


The Best Summer Ever

by C_Diva (thecollective)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Clumsy Sam Winchester, College AU, Established Relationship, Ficlet, Fluffy, M/M, a little sad but mostly cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-27
Updated: 2014-03-27
Packaged: 2018-01-17 04:44:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1374328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecollective/pseuds/C_Diva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel is going off to grad school, but before that happens, Dean needs to make sure they have the best summer ever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Best Summer Ever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dear Collectress](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Dear+Collectress).



> Beta'd only by me and I greedily claim all the mistakes. Characters aren't mine, alas, I wish.  
> written by The Collectiva Diva for The Collectress  
> If you want the full experience, listen to this soundtrack as you read.
> 
> Songs include: 
> 
> Safe Travels, (Don't Die), Lisa Hannigan  
> Lawrence, Ks, Josh Ritter  
> Lovers' Eyes, Mumford & Sons  
> Songbird, Fleetwood Mac  
> Everything Has Changed, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran  
> Sim Sala Bim, Fleet Foxes  
> June Hymn, The Decemberists  
> Summertime Sadness, Lana Del Rey  
> Skinny Love, Birdy  
> Ribs, Lorde

“Dude, we’re going to make this the best summer, ever!” Dean beamed at Cas and grabbed the younger man’s hand.

“First, the store for beers and then we go home to tell Sam. That nerd’s gonna be so jealous.”

Dean Winchester held the tremor in his voice steady. He didn’t want his boyfriend to doubt the sincerity in the words. Dean knew Cas had applied to graduate schools all over the country, but the reality that Cas Novak, his boyfriend of five years and the man Dean wanted to marry, planned to go to university in England hit him somewhere in the chest and wouldn’t let up. Still, Dean did not want Cas to stay in Lawrence for him. He’d visit, they both would. Dean needed Castiel to understand that everything would be okay with him gone. If Cas got even a hint that Dean couldn’t handle the shop and life in town without him, Cas would turn down the fellowship and stay.

“Dean,” Castiel grumbled and pulled his hand away.

Dean’s green eyes met Castiel’s and Dean knew that Cas was trying to read his reaction to the news. Cas was always so damn good at reading him. Dean gazed at his boyfriend and took in the crazy messy black hair that always made Cas look like he’d just rolled out of bed about 10 minutes ago, the tragic uniform of denim and plaid the man became accustomed to wearing after Dean told him that goth was “dead” and to retire the guyliner from 2010, the shining blue eyes on the verge of tears. God, Dean loved this man so much, it hurt.

“Dean, I haven’t made a decision.”

Dean smirked silently. Yeah, right.

“Let’s just go talk to Sammy. He went away to Stanford, so maybe he’s got some tips. It isn’t gonna be easy to get back in the game, Cas. We graduated college 3 years ago, man. Balancing the books at the shop does not count as an academic endeavor,” Dean emphasized his point with a wave of his arms.

“This place will always be ours, babe. But this is a once in a lifetime chance for you. Talk to Sammy, he’s gonna feel the same way I do. We’re gonna convince you this is a good idea, dude.”

Dean once again reached for Castiel and this time the other man did not pull away. The taller man wrapped his arms around the shorter one’s waist and buried his face in dark hair that smelled like peaches and cream. Dean breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of his boyfriend. School usually started in September or August, so that gave them, by Dean’s math skills, not enough damn time. No. Six months to do everything from fly fishing to Sunday afternoon fucking was not enough time at all, but Dean would make it work. For Cas, Dean would do anything.

***

“Sammy.”

Dean’s younger brother made what was usually a comfortable kitchen for two, into a very cramped area. Sam bent over awkwardly and reached into the refrigerator. Dean silently laughed as he watched his brother, forced to reach into the very back of the fridge, contort his body to grab three beers by the tips of his fingers.

“Sammy, just grab the goddamn beers,” Dean yelped and watched his brother jump, knocking his head on the freezer door, which Dean may have opened for this express purpose.

“Oops.”

“Dean!” Sammy stood up straight and handed his brother two beers. One for Dean and one for Cas. “So, he got into Oxford, huh? Smart bastard.” Sam took a swig of his beer and then caught the elder Winchester’s eye. “Are you gonna be okay?”

“Jesus, Sammy, I can’t let him pass this up,” Dean looked over Sam’s gargantuan shoulder to see Cas standing in the hallway, looking between the brothers expectantly. “I won’t let you pass this up, Cas. We will figure out the details.” Dean motioned to Cas, “Come ‘ere.”

Castiel moved toward Dean and buried his face in flannel. Dean knew that Castiel probably had thought of every reason why he shouldn’t go and forgotten the one reason he should--because he wanted to. Dean put his hand under Castiel’s chin and drew the man’s eyes into his own.

“Let’s go to the lake tomorrow. Just you, me and Sam. He’s only in town for Spring Break and I want to do something special.”

The next day, Dean spent the afternoon fishing at Mary’s Lake with the two people he cared most about in the world. Cas packed a lunch to enjoy at the picnic tables underneath the willow trees that included roast beef sandwiches, a 12-pack of Dean’s favorite local brew--the Free State Brewing Company’s Ad Astra Ale, a veggie platter (for Sam) and a homemade apple pie (for Dean). Even though he and Cas had been dating since high school, Dean still found himself in awe at Castiel’s thoughtfulness. Cas had saved him. When Castiel transferred to Lawrence High during junior year, he met Dean, an insolent, angry youth hiding his true nature behind a bad attitude and a dozen or so cheerleader conquests who hated him for breaking their hearts, and suddenly, the two had hit it off. Finally, Dean had someone besides Sammy with whom he didn’t have to pretend. The girls fell off, the attitude shifted and, by graduation, they were an established couple. Dean came out and Cas eased him through it, holding him when Dean felt scared, soothing him when Dean didn’t think he would ever be able to walk through town without people whispering about his sexuality, not that most really cared. Sure, Dean was teased at first, but he played baseball, drove a badass car and worked at his dad’s mechanic shop. His masculinity was questioned by no one more than himself. Cas, who was never afraid of anything but not being able to help, gave Dean balance. If he looked back over the past five years, it had been Cas giving and giving. A fellowship at Oxford was something Cas could do for himself. And Dean Winchester wanted desperately for Castiel to be selfish for once.

“Cas.”

Sam and Castiel both looked up, and Sam shifted his body to allow his brother and Castiel to face each other without him sitting right in the middle, because, well, it was just damn awkward to sit in-between Dean and Cas when they started doing the eye sex thing they liked to do.

“Yes, Dean.”

“Uh, this pie is delicious. Did you make it yourself?” Dean stuttered and took another bite.

“You know I did, Dean. You saw me pull it out of the over this morning when you came down for coffee.” Cas squinted at his boyfriend.

“Um, Cas?”

“Dean.”

Dean Winchester cleared his throat and pulled a small box out of his pocket. Sam started grinning like an idiot, and Dean, without taking his eyes off of Castiel’s, punched his brother in the thigh.

“Ow!”

“Shut up Sammy,” Dean growled.

Cas, all the while, kept his eyes pinned to Dean’s, only moving them briefly to take in the box in the man’s hands.

“So,” Dean began, “I love you, man. We’ve been together a long time and I want to, well, I wanna make it forever so that two years abroad is only a flash in the pan.”

Dean opened the box and inside was a simple silver band. Dean heard Castiel suck in his breath, and pressed on.

  
“Let’s get married. We can do it before you go to England or we can wait, so you have something to look forward to, whatever you want, babe, just...” Dean trailed off and looked down at his hands, twisting the ring in his fingers and waiting for an answer.

“Dean.”

Dean slowly raised his eyes to meet Castiel’s. What if Cas decided to stay because of the proposal? Dean wasn’t trying to get him to stay, but maybe Cas would see it that way and give up on his dreams.

“I just want…”

“Dean.” Cas interrupted the man with a kiss on the lips and a silent nod. “Yes! Yes, of course I will marry you.” The younger man spread his left hand out for Dean, who gently placed the ring on his fiance’s finger. “Are you sure that we can make it work? If I, well, if I go, I mean?”

Dean Winchester, who had just asked the man he loved to spend the rest of their lives loving each other figured that if he could get through a marriage proposal with his dorky brother seriously staring at him the entire time, he could get through just about anything, as long as he had Cas. And that’s exactly what he said, as soon as he’d punched his brother one more time, for good measure.

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU written by the Collectiva Diva for my hetero lifemate, the Collectress. It was supposed to be fluffy. Is it fluffy enough?? It made me kind of sad to write, and only she will know why. I promised you this head canon, didn't I?  
> Love ya, boo.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment or kudos if you liked the work. 
> 
> Meet me over on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/collectivadiva) or on [Tumblr](http://whothehellisdiva.tumblr.com) for more of the same.


End file.
